In stark contrast to most biographers, who at the very least try to maintain some degree of objectivity about their subject, Krasnostein abandons any pretense of authorial distance. The author immerses herself in Sandra’s present and past, heaps effusive praise upon her, and, time and time again, addresses her directly in the narrative, often to promise her that the worst of her life is indeed behind her. At once Krasnostein positions herself as a kind of worshipper, forever in awe of Sandra, and a godlike figure, the only one capable of properly caring for the marginalized woman who looks after society’s most vulnerable members. Sandra, for her part, has described reading the book as cathartic.

The narrative’s structure is simple. Chapters alternate between describing Sandra’s daily work and reconstructing the trauma cleaner’s tumultuous past. In the present, the author follows Sandra and her team as they clean up “death, sickness, and madness,” from clearing out the homes of hoarders to retrieving overdose victims’ belongings. Krasnostein methodically records what happens and details how Sandra treats her maladjusted clients with the utmost kindness and respect. Here, the author lucidly captures the connection between Sandra’s traumatic experiences and her compulsion to clean up the aftermath of disaster. The chapters focusing on the past, by contrast, are more unconventional and less successful.

Because Sandra severely abused drugs and had few friends to share experiences with throughout her life, she never had the chance to develop a cohesive story about herself. Lacking a stable account of Sandra’s past, Krasnostein pieces together the trauma cleaner’s life story, based off the contradictory fragments that she does remember. Over the course of the book, readers learn that Sandra grew up as an adopted child in an abusive household, tried to be “normal” and raise a family, ran away, transitioned and cut contact with her children and ex-wife, endured dangerous sex work, survived rape and attempted murder, and much more. Across these lurid chapters, Krasnostein dwells in Sandra’s pain, almost fetishizing it, and glosses over the harm she herself has inflicted upon her family and friends over the years. Sandra’s life has been full of misery, and the author’s choice to overlook her subject’s flaws seems to be an attempt to radically sympathize with someone who has experienced endless trauma.

Despite her admirable goals, Krasnostein’s choice to dismiss the agony Sandra has caused others comes across as a bit unsettling. Sandra’s family suffered immensely without her income for support, and she frequently moved and changed her name in response to her wife’s many attempts to track her down; she also frequently cheated on her partners, and she dismisses as freaks the gender-nonconforming and gay friends who welcomed her after she left her wife. The author accepts all this as perfectly understandable, without ever delving into how troubling it is.

Many reviews I’ve read have been a great deal more hostile than I expected, and I suspect that part of why I enjoyed this was because of the amazing narration by Rachael Tidd, who manages to ground Krasnostein’s elaborate prose and sentimental characterization in reality.

In spite of its flaws, The Trauma Cleaner tells of an extraordinary and resilient life, and the biography is well worth checking out—at least on audio.

Wonderful review. I was surprised when reading this one that it was much more about her life story (especially the challenge telling it entailed considering her unreliable narration) than her business and I wished it had included more of her present-day life because seeing her in action was where she really shined.

I also didn’t like the author’s handling of those troubling aspects without any deeper consideration, it felt like presenting due diligence in a “warts and all” type of biography without any attempt to consider them more deeply. It’s so interesting you describe her as being in a worshipper position because it did come across like that – I had trouble explaining what I didn’t like about the tone in certain sections and that was exactly it. You captures this one so well, beautifully said!

You raise a great point—it would have made a lot more sense for this to have focused more on the business, considering how self-admittedly unreliable Sandra was as a source. The only thing I can think of is that perhaps the author didn’t think she would have enough material for a book without the sections about Sandra’s past.

But those parts almost felt like fiction, from the present-tense narration to the excessive guesswork about what happened and when. There were so many scenes that were lurid and painful, and I found myself uncomfortable reading them, knowing that Sandra didn’t write them herself.

This is a really interesting review—the idea of a purely subjective and supportive biography sounds amazing, It is truly said that we can’t understand another until we have walked a mile in their shoes. It sounds like here that the author has walked a long mile in her subject’s shoes. I will check this one out. Thank you.

Thanks, glad to have been able to introduce you to the book! It was fascinating at times. The author originally published parts of it as an article, and then expanded it into a full-length book after landing a deal.

I am very interested in this book, because I love all books about careers I’d never heard of, but your review isn’t the first to point out some of the troubling aspects of the author’s approach to her subject. I’ll definitely keep her apparent lack of objectivity in mind when I do pick this up. Thanks for the review!